When Tobey Met Alison
When Tobey Met Alison is Issue #8 of Origins, the first volume of the Cataclysmic Gerosha version of The Gerosha Chronicles in Dozerfleet Comics. It forms the bridge from events in Experiments and Offspring to events in The Battle for Gerosha. Plot An old oracle is unearthed on Metheel, one that warns that "Hubbielskn wilt be undone by Gifted One of the liPo." While the scroll is damaged, the current Earth leadership of the Hebbleskin Gang interprets it to be a direct threat that a Flippo will bring about. Everyone with the surname of Flippo immediately begins being pursued with suspicion and dread by the Hebbleskin organized crime family, complete with its scientists behind its dummy corporation "Shiny Horizons." Most targeted is Tobey Flippo, an activist for Phexos' rights. After his efforts to recruit the Phexo Quartet in WWII, he has been living off benefits from the Phaelites. He finds it difficult to get a job that doesn't discriminate against him for his past associations. Meanwhile, young Alison Ligash begins to learn of Tobey, and seeks him out to learn more about his role in the Phexo Quartet. Her father was an aggressive police captain gunned down for his unwillingness to yield to the Hebbleskins. Tobey eventually runs into Alison at a social meeting that the Phaelites encouraged him to attend, in the hopes that a Phaelite-friendly man of repute would be willing to help Tobey get a job. Alison, ignoring her mother's wishes, directly approaches Tobey and begins asking questions. The two quickly become friends. They begin sharing secrets of many things, especially about their unwavering faith in God - and Tobey's never-ending search to find the treasure of Henry Lohtz. However, Alison's mother pressures her to pay a visit to the local baseball stadium and be introduced to Steve McNolan, a popular player in the area. Steve proves to be a smooth talker at first, but quickly grows a deep-seated jealousy for Tobey. Fearing that Tobey will win over Alison, along with all her beauty, the vain Steve quickly decides to put the moves on her, to win her affections. However, she can't quite seem to shake her fascination with Tobey. Even so, Alison's mother pressures Alison to begin dating Steve. She reluctantly agrees, but asks Tobey to always be there in the background. Tobey hears back that he can have a part time job, and rejoices that this means he has something to live off of besides just Phaelite welfare. The spare time also allows him to be around for Steve and Alison. Once Alison is in Tobey's possession, however, he begins to take a turn for the worse. He grows moody, controlling, and dark. He begins showing up at Alison's home, and demanding that Tobey stay away. Alison gets fed up, and threatens to leave. Steve grows angry at the suggestion, and poisons her drink with a sedative. He then takes advantage of her while she is out. Alison learns some time later that she is pregnant, and goes to Tobey to confide how she hates Steve. Meanwhile, Steve begins having problems with the back of his throat. A doctor warns him to quit smoking, as he's developed throat cancer. Alison's mother ignores Alison's requests to not update Steve any longer on goings-on, but she doesn't believe Alison is serious. Tobey learns that Alison went to see Tobey, and that she is pregnant. He immediately flies into a rage, and demands she get an abortion. When she flat-out refuses, he chases her around her own property and tries to kill her. Tobey arrives on intuition and intervenes. Alison's testimony results in police cracking down on Steve. When he refuses to cooperate, he is placed under arrest. He ends up resisting arrest, resulting in him appearing more guilty in court. Tobey tries to have Alison go home after Steve is gone, but she refuses, terrified that something worse will happen. Tobey calls up the Phaelites and alerts them to the situation when she reveals that Steve knows of the "liPo" prophecy. They promise her that if they let her borrow some DNA from her firstborn son for a test they want to perform, they'll give her and the baby protection in exchange. Tobey objects at first, but Alison, after gaining assurance that no harm would come to the child, begrudgingly agrees to those terms. Tobey decides that the only way she'll ever really have a place in the world is to get married. She asks him who she should marry, since Steve is a rotten apple. Tobey then asks her to marry him. She is shocked, but agrees. Her mother is even more shocked over the phone, wondering if there's any hope left for Steve. However, she is then shot dead over the phone. It is revealed that Steve used his time in jail to gain connections with the Hebbleskin Gnag, placing them hot on Tobey and Alison's trail. The judge and detectives immediately trace the steps back. However, Steve laughs off his life sentence; saying: "It's already too late!" Tobey and Alison soon find themselves being hunted by Hebbleskin-sent assassins, dodging one attempt on their lives after another. After a final showdown in Kentucky, they are given a safe place to stay in a Phaelite establishment not far from Boonville, IN. An all-out manhunt is launched to push the Hebbleskins back and away from the southern Indiana area. True to form, Tobey and Alison marry. Their child is born: Stan. However, they are not told by the Phaelites that he was used for two experiments. The first experiment merged him with "Grandma Centipede," and would bestow on one of his children the powers of a perfected Centhuen Prototype. Stan himself, however, would remain normal. Some of his DNA, however, was half-cloned and placed inside the egg of volunteer Phaelite scientist Insila Murtillo. She ends up becoming the mother of Stan's first child: Darius Philippine. After all is safe, Tobey and Alison move into the forests outside Boonville to find a place to raise Stan in peace. They think they've seen the end of their troubles. They have no idea. Development Plans existed on a back burner even before October of 2010 to eventually explore the origin story of Stan Flippo, but it wasn't until then that a story was formalized in planning. Tobey Flippo was established to be a somewhat interesting character as far back as 2005, though he was barely explored. Instead, readers of the 2005 Battle for Gerosha were left to interpret most of Tobey's interesting features through Stan. In the 2007 Ciem webcomic, references are made to how Tobey and Alison agreed to let Stan be experimented on in exchange for safety. This sequence was entirely told in flashback, as Erin tried to explain to Candi how it is that Candi became a Centhuen Prototype. In 2013, some concept art and other work was done to formalize how Tobey and Alison's story would be told. When Tobey Met Alison turned into an opportunity to transition Tobey the wartime hero into Tobey the family man, so that his role in The Battle for Gerosha would make perfect sense. Stan Flippo's origins were thus out of the way, so that a majority of early time in Battle for Gerosha could instead be devoted to briefly covering Shalia's origins. Inspirations for When Tobey Met Alison would end up running the gamut. In 2009, the Dozerfleet founder had a film director's studies class that resulted in the class watching the 1991 remake of Cape Fear. The Hebbleskins' pursuit of Tobey and Alison Flippo when they are on the run was inspired most by that movie's events. The abusive relationship between Steve and Alison is inspired by numerous crime documentaries featuring in Investigation Discovery. See also * Steve McNolan * Tobey Flippo * Alison Ligash * The Battle for Gerosha External links * [http://bulldozerivan.deviantart.com/gallery/48948167 When Tobey Met Alison art gallery] at DeviantArt Category: When Tobey Met Alison Category: Projects from 2010 Category: Shelved projects